Droid Life » Kindlehttp://www.droid-life.com
An intense Android news community bringing you the latest in phones, rooting, apps, and reviews.Sat, 01 Aug 2015 18:19:40 +0000en-UShourly1http://wordpress.org/?v=4.2.3Kindle App for Android Gets a Big Update, Adds Word Wise and Morehttp://www.droid-life.com/2015/04/10/kindle-app-for-android-gets-a-big-update-adds-word-wise-and-more/
http://www.droid-life.com/2015/04/10/kindle-app-for-android-gets-a-big-update-adds-word-wise-and-more/#commentsFri, 10 Apr 2015 19:53:26 +0000http://www.droid-life.com/?p=165296Kindle App for Android Gets a Big Update, Adds Word Wise and More is a post from: Droid Life
]]>The Kindle app for Android received a big update yesterday that includes one of the most popular e-reader features, Word Wise. The update also lets you learn more about books and authors before reading them, adds flashcard creation from textbooks, word look-ups with any dictionary, easy Audible playback control, and more.

Most of the new features are pretty self-explanatory, but for those new to Word Wise, I’ll do my best to explain. Word Wise attempts to make it easy for kids (or those learning English) to read more challenging books by adding short and simple definitions above difficult words. By doing this, one could continue reading a book after looking at the short reference, instead of having to look something up in a dictionary or elsewhere.

]]>http://www.droid-life.com/2015/04/10/kindle-app-for-android-gets-a-big-update-adds-word-wise-and-more/feed/14Amazon Announces Kindle Unlimited, All-You-Can-Eat eBook Subscription Servicehttp://www.droid-life.com/2014/07/18/amazon-announces-kindle-unlimited-all-you-can-eat-ebook-subscription-service/
http://www.droid-life.com/2014/07/18/amazon-announces-kindle-unlimited-all-you-can-eat-ebook-subscription-service/#commentsFri, 18 Jul 2014 16:10:49 +0000http://www.droid-life.com/?p=145712Amazon Announces Kindle Unlimited, All-You-Can-Eat eBook Subscription Service is a post from: Droid Life
]]>Unlimited media subscriptions are all the rage these days, so it was probably inevitable that Amazon would eventually attempt to broaden its grip on the market. Expanding beyond movies and TV shows, the company today announced Kindle Unlimited, a $9.99 a month service which gives customers unlimited access to over 600,000 eBooks.

Kindle Unlimited is much like competing services Oyster, Scribd, and Entitle, but does have one notable feature … audio narration. Subscribers will be able to download audio companion recordings for more than 2,000 titles.

Access to those audiobooks are available at no extra charge through Whispersync for Voice, but Amazon’s wider Audible library is restricted – after a three-month trial period, you’ll need to pony up cash for audiobooks beyond the select few Kindle Unlimited Titles.

If you would like to test drive Kindle Unlimited, Amazon’s offering it free for 30 days.

]]>http://www.droid-life.com/2014/07/18/amazon-announces-kindle-unlimited-all-you-can-eat-ebook-subscription-service/feed/18Official Amazon App for Android Updated With New Icon and “Single Sign On” Featurehttp://www.droid-life.com/2014/05/07/official-amazon-app-for-android-updated-with-new-icon-and-single-sign-on-feature/
http://www.droid-life.com/2014/05/07/official-amazon-app-for-android-updated-with-new-icon-and-single-sign-on-feature/#commentsWed, 07 May 2014 17:48:47 +0000http://www.droid-life.com/?p=139458Official Amazon App for Android Updated With New Icon and “Single Sign On” Feature is a post from: Droid Life
]]>Amazon may be expanding into many niches, but the company has not forgotten about its retail experience on Android devices. Today, Amazon rolled out an updated app with minor, but welcome, enhancements.

Besides an updated icon and bug fixes, the app brings Single Sign On (SSO) to Amazon’s Android suite of apps. To explain, when you sign into your account through the Amazon app, you will automatically be signed in on other apps like Kindle and Amazon Appstore automatically. This feature should certainly save users a few seconds when opening apps.

]]>http://www.droid-life.com/2014/05/07/official-amazon-app-for-android-updated-with-new-icon-and-single-sign-on-feature/feed/20Deal: Kindle Fire HDX is 20% Off on Amazon Today Only ($184), Kindle Fire HD and Kindle Toohttp://www.droid-life.com/2013/12/09/deal-kindle-fire-hdx-is-20-off-on-amazon-today-only-184-kindle-fire-hd-and-kindle-too/
http://www.droid-life.com/2013/12/09/deal-kindle-fire-hdx-is-20-off-on-amazon-today-only-184-kindle-fire-hd-and-kindle-too/#commentsMon, 09 Dec 2013 17:50:33 +0000http://www.droid-life.com/?p=126692Deal: Kindle Fire HDX is 20% Off on Amazon Today Only ($184), Kindle Fire HD and Kindle Too is a post from: Droid Life
]]>The big Thanksgiving holiday shopping weekend may be over for many, but I’d image I’m not the only human that completely avoids doing any shopping on that weekend. Instead, I do my shopping when things tone down a bit the couple of weeks before, in hopes that most people have already crossed everything off of their lists and have left the mall to me, just me. That or sites like Amazon continue to make it easy for me to never leave my cave with deals like today’s 20%-off Kindle family promotion.

If you are interested at all in the brand new Kindle Fire HDX (16GB version), you really can’t beat the $183.20 price tag. You are looking at tablet with a super high-res 7-inch display (1920×1200, 323ppi), 2.2GHz quad-core processor, 2GB of RAM, and access to Amazon’s 24-hour live video support, also known as Mayday. It’s about as high-end of tablet you’ll find anywhere, assuming you can handle Amazon’s custom Android skin and lack of access to Google Play.

And should you be interested in spending much less than $183, the regular Kindle Fire HD (16GB) can be had for $135.20 today. Or if reading books on a tablet is all you really care about in the end, think about the regular Kindle for a silly-low price of $55.20.

Update: Amazon has flat out denied this report, stating that they are not launching a phone this year, but if they did it “would not be free.”

According to sources of ex-WSJ reporters Jessica Lessin and Amir Efrati, Amazon might be listing its upcoming smartphone at an unbeatable price – free. Apparently, there is still some speculation on how Amazon will make its money back on the device, but a few reports speculate that the e-retailer could require a subscription to Amazon Prime. From what the source states, “Amazon wants the device to be free whether or not people sign up for a new wireless plan at the same time.”

The device would be sold online, straight to consumers without the need of going through carriers for subsidization. When and where we can expect to see this free smartphone hit the market is still unclear. Another aspect, a large one at that, is who would manufacturer such a device? According to the sources, many companies that were reportedly in talks with Amazon currently have agreements to not produce Android devices that do not support Google’s services, which means no forking of the OS. We could be a ways from seeing this device, but that is not new. Talks of an Amazon smartphone have been around for a long time.

As for our opinion, much like their Kindle tablets, a phone from Amazon would more than likely be a heavily-skinned Android device. This interests us, but then again, you can kiss access to Google Play, Google apps, and many other great Android features goodbye.

What is your take on a free Kindle phone? Would you ever buy a phone that doesn’t have access to Google’s suite of apps?

]]>http://www.droid-life.com/2013/09/06/amazon-to-possibly-price-upcoming-kindle-smartphone-as-free/feed/68Three Reasons Why the Kindle Fires Should Be Considered Android Tablets [Opinion]http://www.droid-life.com/2012/10/17/three-reasons-why-the-kindle-fires-should-be-considered-android-tablets-opinion/
http://www.droid-life.com/2012/10/17/three-reasons-why-the-kindle-fires-should-be-considered-android-tablets-opinion/#commentsWed, 17 Oct 2012 17:05:33 +0000http://www.droid-life.com/?p=86049Three Reasons Why the Kindle Fires Should Be Considered Android Tablets [Opinion] is a post from: Droid Life
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Ever since the original Kindle Fire was released last year there has been some controversy about whether or not to consider Amazon’s tablets to be Android tablets. While Amazon has always admitted that the products run a forked version of Android and Android apps, the Android community was quick to distance themselves from the product despite its record sales. While Amazon likes to talk about Fire apps and doesn’t talk about the version of Android running underneath the Fire interface in any of their official documentation, I believe the Kindle Fire should be considered an Android tablet.

The first reason the Kindle Fires should be considered Android tablets is that they run Android. This may seem a bit obvious, but hear me out. Many Android enthusiasts want to discount the Fire because the interface it runs is so wildly different than stock Android. Since the interface on HTC, Samsung, LG, Motorola, and Sony products are also very different from stock Android, should we not consider them Android? Did anyone ever accuse the Nook of not being an Android tablet? Yes, the Fires run a forked version of Android, but it is still Android.

The second reason that the Kindle Fires should be considered Android tablets is that they run Android apps. While the Kindle Fire lacks access to the Play Store, every Fire that has been released has been rooted and therefore able to install the Play Store. Even if a Fire isn’t rooted, every app that is available in Amazon’s Appstore is an Android app.

The argument might be made that Linux can run Windows applications with Wine, but no one would call Linux Windows. While that is true, no one would say that the applications that come preloaded with Ubuntu, a more popular Linux distribution, are Windows applications. Perhaps most importantly, applications designed for Linux don’t run on Windows machines without a virtual machine to run Linux on top of Windows. Applications that run on the Kindle Fire will run on other Android tablets and vice versa. The Linux/Windows comparison is clever, but ultimately inaccurate.

The third, and certainly most meta reason, to consider the Kindle Fires to be Android tablets is that Amazon is to date the most successful Android tablet manufacturer. As of the time of this writing Google has not released sales or activation numbers for the Nexus 7. While I hope it has out-performed the Fires, at this point the only numbers we have are that the Fire has 22% of the tablet market. That is a huge chunk of the market when you remember that Apple has 68%. About 1 out of every 5 tablet owners have a Kindle Fire based on the latest numbers we have. As difficult as it may be to admit, the Kindle Fire did what no other Android tablet maker was able to do: gain significant market share in the market.

I think a lot of Android enthusiasts’ antagonism towards the Kindle Fire stems from two issues: Amazon has changed the way that Android looks and works on the Fire, and Amazon was successful. It didn’t bother anyone to call the Nook Color and Nook Tablet Android tablets because they came before Honeycomb was released (and shortly after the original Galaxy Tab was released). When Amazon was successful with a forked version of Android while other tablets like the Xoom and Galaxy Tab failed in the market, I think many Android enthusiasts turned against Amazon. We know how powerful and useful Android is, but the only products that have been successful in the market have been Amazon’s forked version. That is not the Android we want to see succeed, so we want to discount the Fire.

I really want Google to succeed in the tablet space, but I have to admit that Amazon got there first. Hopefully Google has been able to play catch up with the Nexus 7 and will be able to compete with the Fire HDs, iPad, and Surface with the rumored Nexus 10. Even though I want Google to do better than Amazon, however, I have to admit that Amazon beat Google to the punch and was successful in the market with an Android tablet before anyone else. We may not like what Amazon is doing with Android, but that doesn’t mean the Fires aren’t Android tablets.

]]>http://www.droid-life.com/2012/10/17/three-reasons-why-the-kindle-fires-should-be-considered-android-tablets-opinion/feed/74Thursday Poll: Interested in Any of the New Kindle Devices?http://www.droid-life.com/2012/09/06/thursday-poll-interested-in-any-of-the-new-kindle-devices/
http://www.droid-life.com/2012/09/06/thursday-poll-interested-in-any-of-the-new-kindle-devices/#commentsThu, 06 Sep 2012 21:00:04 +0000http://www.droid-life.com/?p=81913Thursday Poll: Interested in Any of the New Kindle Devices? is a post from: Droid Life
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It’s been a big day for tablet lovers. Amazon has announced a total of six new Kindle devices and we’re curious to see if anyone here is going to pick one up. The options are certainly all over the board and there’s bound to be one to suit the needs of anybody looking to jump into the tablet market. If you need a bigger display with 4G LTE, there’s the Fire HD w/ LTE or if you’re just looking for a basic e-reader there’s the new Paperwhite.

Let us know which one has caught your eye.

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

According to multiple sources that spoke to The Verge, Amazon may unveil its first ever smartphone alongside its new Kindle Fire at an event tomorrow. Their sources claim that the smartphone will run a forked version of Android, similar to what the Kindle Fire runs, however, it may be based off of Ice Cream Sandwich this time around, rather than Gingerbread. “Forked” means that it won’t carry any of Google’s suite of apps, so in place of Google Maps for instance, Amazon will go with Nokia Maps. They are also claiming that this device is unfinished, so if it is on display tomorrow, Amazon may be short on details.

With Apple on the verge of unveiling their new iPhone, Motorola unveiling 3 today, Nokia dropping new Lumias this morning, and HTC getting ready for something as well, it would make sense for Amazon to at least let their massive customer base know that they have something in the works. After the success of the Kindle Fire, you can imagine that there is a market for a smartphone made by them, especially if it is is unlocked and falls in at an incredibly reasonable price.

This morning, Amazon announced that their Kindle Fire tablet holds a massive 22% of the U.S. tablet market share and that the Fire is now completely sold out. Bummer. But don’t worry, Amazon has a press conference set for September 6, which more than likely, will be to unveil their newest Kindle lineup. Amazon’s CEO certainly seems excited about their future offerings:

Kindle Fire is sold out, but we have an exciting roadmap ahead—we will continue to offer our customers the best hardware, the best prices, the best customer service, the best cross-platform interoperability, and the best content ecosystem.

The Kindle Fire was released less than a year ago. To come out as the #1 selling Android tablet and to hold a big stake in the entire U.S. market is quite impressive. There’s no doubt that Amazon’s next offering(s) will surely live up to high expectations.

On Thursday, September 6, Amazon is holding a press event to introduce something. The invite itself doesn’t give off any hints, but with the rumors of new Kindle tablets on the horizon, one would guess that we may get a new slate or two. Could we see a 10″ device or will it be a beefed up 7-incher to battle the Nexus 7? Tough to tell, but we’ll be there to bring it to you.

The Kindle app for Android received a sizable update yesterday that includes a handful of new categories. Children’s books, comics and graphic novels are all now a part of the service through your Android device. They also gave you the ability to send documents and files to your Amazon cloud account through “Send-to-Kindle” email addresses, a service that will give you access to them down the road.

]]>http://www.droid-life.com/2012/03/23/kindle-for-android-update-includes-assortment-of-comics-childrens-books-and-graphic-novels/feed/14Wednesday Poll: Planning to Buy the New Kindle Fire?http://www.droid-life.com/2011/09/28/wednesday-poll-planning-to-buy-the-new-kindle-fire/
http://www.droid-life.com/2011/09/28/wednesday-poll-planning-to-buy-the-new-kindle-fire/#commentsWed, 28 Sep 2011 16:46:29 +0000http://www.droid-life.com/?p=47660Wednesday Poll: Planning to Buy the New Kindle Fire? is a post from: Droid Life
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The tech world has been buzzing about Amazon’s new Kindle Fire tablet this morning, which just so happens to be running a custom version of Android. At just $199 and with access to all of Amazon’s services including Prime, music, cloud storage, books and magazines, this may be one of the most influential tablets to see the light of day.

With that said, we are seeing a pretty mixed reaction from readers in the comments this morning and want to get a better feel for this device. It’s running Android (possibly 2.3 or 2.1 depending on who you ask), but you almost can’t tell since Amazon has customized every last ounce of it. Some of you are into it as a nice media device, yet others are a little turned off by the fact that it’s not really an Android tablet and lacks a camera. Oh, we are also pretty sure that it won’t have the official Android Market and will instead utilize Amazon’s Appstore (not surprising by the way).

So tell us, are you planning to buy one?

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

The new Amazon Kindle Fire was just announced at $199 as one of, if not the most affordable and deeply integrated Android tablets ever built. It will ship on November 15, but future Fire owners can pre-order the device right now. Amazon’s product page for their shiny new tablet includes every last detail you could have ever dreamed of including full specs, the multiple Amazon services it will use, and a quick video overview.

Most of the mystery was out of the bag on Monday when a report surfaced, but everything is now official. Amazon has introduced the Kindle Fire as their next tablet. It has a 7″ IPS display, dual-core processor, Gorilla Glass, access to all of Amazon’s media services (books, magazines, cloud storage, music, etc.), Amazon Prime for movies/tv/shopping/etc., and does not require a cable for syncing. It’s Android, but from what we can tell, is so customized that you won’t actually know that unless you are an uber-nerd like us. This is looking like quite the player and actually has us a little excited about a tablet for the first time in a while. Price hasn’t been announced at the Kindle event just yet, but Bloomberg is reporting that it will be just $199. Update: Price is now official at $199.

]]>http://www.droid-life.com/2011/09/28/amazon-announces-the-kindle-fire-for-199/feed/168Amazon Announcing Their Tablet The ‘Kindle Fire’ This Weekhttp://www.droid-life.com/2011/09/26/amazon-announcing-their-tablet-the-kindle-fire-this-week/
http://www.droid-life.com/2011/09/26/amazon-announcing-their-tablet-the-kindle-fire-this-week/#commentsMon, 26 Sep 2011 22:55:16 +0000http://www.droid-life.com/?p=47474Amazon Announcing Their Tablet The ‘Kindle Fire’ This Week is a post from: Droid Life
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Earlier today on Android Life, I wrote about a tablet being lit aflame by a flamethrower, but this is a whole different story. According to TechCrunch, Amazon is going to announce their hotly anticipated tablet, and it will be named the Kindle ‘Fire.’ This may be to differentiate itself from other Kindles, which will still be on sale before and after this tablet launches in November.

According to the report, this tablet is made by the same company that made the Playbook so it will resemble the BB tablet closely but it will definitely run Android. It is said to have a TI dual-core OMAP processor in it just like most tablets these days but we aren’t sure of the clock speed just quite yet. Other juicy details of the tablet include the rumor that Amazon has been inking deals with all sorts of media providers, TV studios and book publishers prior to launch. The tablet will rely heavily on Amazon’s MP3 store and their e-book library as well. All sounds well and good right?

So far, the Fire has been said to be based off of Android 2.1 for some odd reason. Yes all the specs seem to sound good but building off an old version of Android is a questionable call. And the fact that so far, the Fire doesn’t seem to have a native email client is harkening back to it’s Playbook roots.

This tablet is going to go into a heated war against the Nook 2 which has been rumored to be launching soon as well. But we’ll have to wait until Wednesday, during Amazon’s press conference to see how, or if, the Fire will catch on.